410Fortune
Cadet
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2002
- Messages
- 6
Okay well this is an oldie but a goodie.<br /><br />I bought a 15' Bayliner 4 years ago with an 85 HP Evinrude. Great little boat! Anywho the third week I had it I installed a tape deck/stereo. As happy as could be, my buddy and I decide we are going fishing at 5:00 am on a Monday. So we get up at 4 something and head up to a not so local lake (Horsetooth resevoir, CO). Well when we get there it is snowing. Yup thats springtime in Colorado. So we decide to wait it out, weather man is promising clear skies. After about an hour we decide that drinking beers in the truck on the boat ramp is not such a good idea and decide to go drink beers in the truck over at the campsites. Well to make a long story short the road to the campsites has a high road (nice and dry) and a low road (almost in the water, mud) so obviousl with boat in tow we take the high road. We get to a point where the two roads meet and decide that trying to take the 4x4 Bronco II (yup the underdog of all Ford trucks, the 2.9L V-6 powered BII) and boat through even damp dirtis a bad idea let alone thick gooey mud. So a u turn is in order. Well the U turn didnt work out quite right, the truck kept sliding towards thelow road. It was obvious we were not gonna make the high road, so we looked at each other and I pointed the nose towards the "low road" about 2ft from the waters edge. We made it about 50 yards before the truck/trailer sank in the mud. Being an avid 4x4'er we know that if you air down, it will go further. We air down about 10# from each tire, get a little muddy. She lifts right out and goes another 10 yards, sinks again. air down, 10 more yards, sinks again. This occurs until we are covered in mud and down to about 15 psi in each tire. Each yard we move forward the trailer is getting closer to the lake. Basically my truck is hoping up and down (ever seen those mud tractors pull the weighted sled?) <br />and we are inching along. The pass side trailer tire is now in the lake and my front drivers tire is about 12" from grabbing solid road. Of course I'min 4x4 low range and eating up my clutch quickly and it doesnt really look like we are gonna make it. These 3 guys come over in the Ranger truck. It is now pouring rain. We roll down the window, they say "What in the hell do you got in that thing?" they are thinking V-8 for sure. "We've been watchingyou for a half an hour in amazemant thatyou got this far". My buddy and I are thinking "glad you are so entertained, now get out and help!" WE ask if they can maybe hook up to the front of my BII and pull us up a little, they inform us that they are not allowed to touch our truck for insurance reasons. They were nice enough to offer to bring a load of gravel over with the backhoe and dump it under my tires. I say okay before we do all that lets give it one more go. Let another 3-5# of air out of all four tires, Let out the clutch, truck starts hoping up and down, screaming engine, smoking clutch, front tire grabs and it actually pulls the truck/trailer/boat combo back up onto solid ground. Amazing! Coulda cost $500 for a tow and been rather emberassing. Anywho wouldn't ya know it the sky cleared right up, the water was glass, and the radio was turned on blaring classical music!!! Have you ever seen a Bayliner coming across the water with 4" of mud all over the bow/windshield? It was quite a sight!<br /><br />Oh and the little Bronco got a new clutch the next month. She's still going with 238K miles and a complete custom rebuild, Larger V-6 converted to an automatic, bigger axles, etc...I had 6 clutches in the truck after that fiasco. That mud ate my 1988 original clutch that had 180 K original miles on it. 
<br /><br />These Fords are tough......since then I have taken the little Bayliner all over the Midwest and logged another 4 seasons on the Evinrude 85 HP.<br /><br />Just though I'd share, wish I had pics....
<br /><br />These Fords are tough......since then I have taken the little Bayliner all over the Midwest and logged another 4 seasons on the Evinrude 85 HP.<br /><br />Just though I'd share, wish I had pics....